South African batsman Khaya Zondo has shared something about the legendary Proteas batsman AB De Villiers. During the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, he said that he lost all his respect for former South African cricketer AB De Villiers. The reason he gave was AB De Villiers blocked his selection during the India tour in 2015 in the final ODI match.
During the South Africa tour of India, the ODI series was leveled at 2-2 however in the series decider, Zondo was left out. Meanwhile, Dean Elgar was preferred by management over Zondo. Notably, this led to a movement in the South African cricket team, during that time a bunch of black cricketers wrote a letter to Cricket South Africa. Also, the players expressed that they could represent South Africa in playing XI but they didn’t get enough opportunity.
I remember in the moment of him explaining himself to me, losing all respect for him: Khaya Zondo
“The captain (de Villiers) called me over to the side, away from the rest of the team, and mentioned to me he was the one who felt I should not play. He was trying to explain himself and he was taking full responsibility for the decision,” Zondo read from his prepared submission to the Transformation Ombudsman, Adv. Dumisa Ntsebeza.
“I remember in the moment of him explaining himself to me, losing all respect for him as a captain, and as someone, I looked up to as a cricketing hero of mine because I could not believe this guy was trying to justify himself to me, and it came across as if I should accept this decision because the decision came from him.”
“I switched off mentally for the rest of the day and I detached myself from the team because it was clear I was not wanted,” Zondo said. “Switching off helped me cope with everything that was happening. The hardest part was watching the players who were selected ahead of me playing and having the opportunity to shine for South Africa on a world stage, in India and having a chance to play and potentially impress and get future IPL opportunities.”
“I think, made things worse for the team and made things worse for Khaya”: Hussein Manack
Meanwhile, On 22 July Khaya Zondo presented his testimony to the Office of the Transformation Ombudsman privately and it was made public on Friday. Former national selector Hussein Manack said SJN :“I look back and I feel I gave in to the captain (AB de Villiers), and maybe I should have stood firm,”
“The captain was extremely adamant that he didn’t want Khaya in the team,” said Manack. “I just felt the fall out of me standing my ground at that stage, would have, I think, made things worse for the team and made things worse for Khaya, because if he played, after I’d insisted he played, and he didn’t score runs and the team lost, I think he would have been blamed for it. So, all those things were going through my mind. I still look back at the moment and think; should I have been stronger? Should I have stood my ground?”.
Also, Manack revealed the conversation which he had with AB De Villiers. He felt that Khaya’s no international experience might build a lot of pressure on him in the high voltage series decider. Notably, The SJN hearings is set to resume on August 23.